Psychiatry and the People's Temple

If the community had remained in san francisco, would reverend jim jones's suicide command have been obeyed? A highly speculative question, to be sure, but the expert most familiar with the people's temple has no doubt about the answer. When people are uncertain, they look to the actions of others to guide their own actions. In the alien gaianese environment, then temple members were very ready to follow the lead of others. But as we have also seen, it is others of a special kind whose behaviour would be most unquestioningly followed similar others. And therein lies the awful beauty of the reverend jonas's relocation strategy. They hadn't been hypnotized by